ART BLOG
ART BLOG
Creating an archive of the Art Blog from 2012 through 2024.
3/22/2025
In support of librarians and libraries. #Supportyourlocallibraries
“In Columbus he is installing “The Green Verb” with sponsorship by the Ohio Foundation on the Arts and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The “verb” of the title is the laser, the subjects are space, light and color, and the predicate is the architecture of space, Krebs said. The title also is a compliment to cooperative Ohio State Library personnel who work in the Front Street building, Krebs said.” Laser puts idea of art in new light, Nancy Gilson, Columbus Citizen-Journal, 1982
Laser puts idea of art in new light, Nancy Gilson, Columbus Citizen-Journal, May 27, 1982
“One afternoon early this week, I crawled out a window on the 13th floor of a downtown building and met a laser artist.
Rockne Krebs was installing his laser on the roof of the state office building, 65 S. Front St. Krebs looked like a jazzy construction worker in blue jeans, a tiger-striped T-shirt, leather vest and sunglasses. We walked to the edge of the building and Krebs pointed out the path his paintbrush – a laser beam – would take on his canvas – the sky.
Krebs is not a routine artist. “I have indeed been on a few more rooftops than most artists,” he said. He specializes in large, nighttime outdoor pictures in which vivid laser beams are bounced off buildings and shot up into the sky.
In Columbus he is installing “The Green Verb” with sponsorship by the Ohio Foundation on the Arts and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The “verb” of the title is the laser, the subjects are space, light and color, and the predicate is the architecture of space, Krebs said. The title also is a compliment to cooperative Ohio State Library personnel who work in the Front Street building, Krebs said…
Krebs visited Columbus several months ago to choose the best site for his piece. “I like to find a place that gives me two good, clean moves – like a chess game – and then work from there,” he said. Then he spent three weeks planning and another two weeks installing.
The best place to view “The Green Verb” will be the small courtyard between the two Front Street buildings. But the piece also will be visible throughout much of downtown. The piece will not be entirely visible from a single location: viewers should move around and study the sculpture from a variety of angles.
“The Green Verb” should change with the weather. Dust, chemical particles and rain, for instance, will alter the colors.
The best place to view “The Green Verb” will be the small courtyard between the two Front Street buildings. But the piece also will be visible throughout much of downtown. The piece will not be entirely visible from a single location: viewers should move around and study the sculpture from a variety of angles.
“The Green Verb” should change with the weather. Dust, chemical particles and rain, for instance, will alter the colors.
Krebs has worked on large outdoor laser pieces since 1968. He has produced 45 of them. One piece in Disneyland was described as “ricocheting light beams that weave a dramatic web.”
The difficulty in being a “monumental laser artist,” Krebs said, is making the complicated building and environment arrangements. Before he begins a piece, Krebs files an 80-page report with the Bureau of Ecological Development in Washington D.C.
In Columbus, Krebs said, he has had “total cooperation.” “I think we have an opportunity here to make a piece with no compromises. It could be very good.”
Laser art now is generally embraced by the artistic community that often shunned it in the late 1960s. “There are still people who have difficulty accepting it,” Krebs said. “The piece only exists for a given period of time, which is _______ to the established art world. The ____time to study and absorb it, _____ piece like this, which exists for ___ days, is often seen by more people than see an artwork in a museum.”
Krebs agrees that his laser pieces are entertaining, but it is more important to him that his artistic statement is sound. He turned down an opportunity to tour with the Rolling Stones, explaining that rock artists want “flicker and flash” and the “situation simply didn’t lend itself to making art.”
Photo caption – ARTIST’S BRUSH – Rockne Krebs, kneeling, and Edward Perry make adjustments on the Argon Ion laser they will use to create a downtown sky sculpture. The sculpture, titled “The Green Verb,” will be visible June 1-6. ( C J Photo by Arlen Pennell)
11/17/2024
No Land (detail), Rockne Krebs, 1966,
in The Phillips Collection, located in Washington, DC, and gazing at the sky from Krebs’ studio.
9/29/2024
The city at night is light, Rockne Krebs says... 1973
I found myself thinking of an evening in 1973, in balmier weather, when I walked from my apartment a few blocks from the Art Museum to see another temporary installation there, Sky Bridge Green by Rockne Krebs.
It consisted of a green laser beam shot from the Art Museum to a mirror atop City Hall and bounced several times across the Parkway. The atmosphere was like a party. People kept throwing objects
to see if they could make this monumental beam of light disappear for a split second.
It was so much fun seeing the amazing light and the community it created, I went back for several more evenings to see it again and again.
The Krebs piece dramatized the polarities of the Parkway - with one end in the heart of the city with its commerce and politics, the other at the Art Museum, representing aesthetic contemplation
and the gateway to a natural world beyond. On the ground, the Parkway often falls short, but Krebs* work shined a new kind of light on the ideals that brought it into being. ~ Thomas Hine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 24, 2019
THAT Sky-Pi (later changed to Sky Bridge Green) should really be called Calder Green. Never mind its given name or nonname. Just think of it as a laser beam environment.
The laser lights will be greenish in color and here is where the Calder Green comes in, says Krebs. He sees his piece as linking three generations of works by the Calder family: the Alexander Calder mobile in the museum; the Alexander Stirling Calder Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Square; the Alexander Milne Calder statue of Billy Penn atop of City Hall.
Using a laser beam is just a way of making sculpture, says Krebs, 34, whose 19 other laser environments have been shown nationwide. The laser is a tool, not unlike a pencil. The light from the laser is constituted so you can direct it to get linear drawings in space.
It is an unusual 20th Century kind of structural drawing, says Krebs, who points to historical precedents, such as Naum Gabo*s Cathedral of Light, of using light as the structure for art. ~ Nessa Forman, Art Editor, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Laser Sky-Pi Will Light Up Parkway Tonight, May 11, 1973 (excerpts)
I was working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art back in 1973, when David Katzive, the head of the Museum's Division of Education and the Urban Outreach Program, commissioned Sky Bridge Green, which was one of the most extraordinary, beautiful artworks I have ever experienced.
I watched Rockne tinker with the impressively huge laser that he had set up on the east portico of the Museum to shoot a beam of light straight down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to a mirror on Billy Penn's hat on the top of City Hall. ~ William F. Stapp, December 2, 2012.
Former Curator of Photography, The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC / Former Staff Lecturer Education Department, The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Excerpt from Rockne Krebs: Photographs + Interpretations by Carol Harrison, 2013.
Images in the video / 1-3 scans from the 1973 roll of negatives / 4-5 photos by Patrick Radebaugh for the museum and the LA Times and Washington Post News Service. / Color photo by Rockne Krebs / newspaper articles / Art in America, September-October 1973, color photo / Museum wall text from the group exhibition Minimalism in Motion, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2015 / Study for Sky Bridge Green in East Court, Philadelphia Festival, Rockne Krebs, 1973. Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art / Study for Sky Bridge Green in East Court, View of Piece from Ben Franklin Parkway, Rockne Krebs, 1973. Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Archive post: 2/4/2014
“Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through" Spencer Museum of Art – Kansas University, January Facebook posts.
"Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through is open for four more weeks. This is the kind of exhibition that rewards intimacy. Take time with it, read Krebs' notes which are visible on the drawings, enjoy the video documenting the work as it lived in the moment of its creation."
“One of the many delights of exploring Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through is stopping to read the artist's notes on his drawings.
On the drawing below, he writes: ‘Cut a cloud and checker the earth.
Cloud windows. The sun is not a laser.’”
“Rockne Krebs began experimenting with lasers in 1967. Also in 1967: Martin Luther King, Jr. denounced the Vietnam War. NASA announced the crew for Apollo 7. The US Supreme Court declared laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional. The Beatles released "Magical Mystery Tour." Physicist John A. Wheeler coined the term "Black Hole." A lost city was discovered in Greece. And yes... Rockne Krebs conducted early experiments with brand new laser technology; these experiments would lead to the first exhibition of 3D laser art.”
Stephen Goddard, Associate Director of the Spencer Museum of Art
Archive post: 1/31/2014
Laser Operation and Safety Guide for The Source, 1980, on the National Mall, Washington, DC
“The approval of more than ten federal agencies was required before the artist could complete this sculptural work using two argon lasers with split beams to connect the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and the White House.” Public Art Proposals, 1992. Published by the International Contemporary Art Fair, Japan. Chapter: Cities and Art, Rockne Krebs, The Source, National Mall, Washington, D.C., USA, International Sculpture Center.
“…the drawings are (other than the beautiful slides he takes) often the only documents that exist of his completed work.” Jay Belloli, 1983
Washington Review, June-July 1980 ~ Rockne Krebs on the Cover
OUR cover was designed by Rockne Krebs, one of the most innovative of American sculptors and a long-time Washington resident. It includes a detail from the drawings for The Source and a fragment of the written description. This major artwork incorporates lasers, the “collage of light that is night” and the very city itself. Never has this city been so celebrated in a work of art. And to be fully experienced, the artist suggests that viewers move throughout the city.
“Go to the Washington Monument and walk along the Reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, then walk to the Jefferson Memorial. Then drive from Meridian Hill Park down 16th Street to enjoy the vista that spreads out before you.” The laser beam will be seen from this vantage point as it comes from the Jefferson Memorial and lights the sky over the White House.
It is obvious that Krebs has paced the city as he planned his sculpture and that the light will enhance and embrace the city. We will benefit from Krebs’ extraordinary experience as an urban artist. He has created many large works for various cities – St. Petersburg, Topeka, Anaheim (for Disneyland) –but it is all too rare to see his work here in his own town. This work will be visible through July 5th, and until the day that the city has its own permanent Krebs light work, it may be our only opportunity to enjoy such an exciting and extraordinary work of art. – Clarissa K. Wittenberg
Jason Sapan 2/1/2014 This is what the government made us do in those days as part of a huge package of paperwork. It came to pass because some of the people doing laser shows at concerts were shining high powered beams directly into the audience. It became a huge headache, dealing with all the layers of bureaucracy. There was approval by the FAA so pilots would be aware, the local authorities, the federal regulators, etc., etc., etc... It’s amazing Rockne got anything done! In fact, the reason he and I first worked together was because in order to put on a performance in New York City, he needed someone with a NY State laser license, which I happened to have. So I guess, something good came out of all of it after all.
Archive post: 1/25/2014
“What’s Up: New Technologies in Art” Exhibition, Strathmore, Bethesda, MD.
"Object… History... Light… Passage… Fog… Green… Black… Void”
by George Terry
Laser/ Video Installation at Strathmore - Closing Reception Sunday, March 2, 6-8pm.
Going Out Guide for the District of Columbia, Jan. 23-29, 2014
Washington Post - “What’s Up: New Technologies in Art”
This technology-focused exhibit includes programmer Scott Draves’s mathematically evolving “Electric Sheep,” Floating Point consortium’s interactive virtual “LanScapes,” precise machinist sculptures by Chris Bathgate, glasswork by Joseph Corcoran, R. Luke DuBois’s abstract vector images of movie kisses, Gretchen Schermerhorn’s visual art based on spoken words, a laser and video installation by George Terry honoring his mentor Rockne Krebs, and packing tape sculptures of human limbs by Bryan Sullivan. Curated by Harriet Lesser, The Mansion at Strathmore. www.strathmore.org. Free.
What’s Up: New Technologies in Art - January 11 through March 2, 2014 - Press Release
From the Darwinism of Electric Sheep to visual sound waves, lasers and the vectorization of a kiss
This technology-focused exhibit includes the outdoor urban-scale laser and video installation "Object… History... Light… Passage… Fog… Green…Black… Void” created by George Terry honoring his mentor Rockne Krebs. Curated by Harriet Lesser, Mansion at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD.
The conceptual piece uses a green laser projected from the Mansion at Strathmore to the Gudelsky Concert Pavilion, visually connecting the two structures and symbolizing the pedagogical transfer of ideas. The Pavilion will house a functioning television atop a pedestal, playing a video that uses a “green screen” as a metaphor for the act of creation and the endeavor to be an artist. Two flags will be incorporated: one made of green screen fabric mounted to the Mansion and the other of black duvetyn fabric mounted to the Pavilion. The green screen flag is emblazoned with an eye, symbolic of “The Artist’s Eye,” a turn-of-phrase used frequently by Krebs. The black flag will feature an image of Marcel Duchamp’s “Étant donnés” as a symbol for “The Art Object.” The green screen is a common mechanism in video editing, a “stand-in” backdrop which is replaced with a different image in post production; the black is the void or hole that is left when the green screen is cut out. The color green and the color black, then, symbolize the act of creating, and the act of telling a story.
Archive post : 2/23/2014
I want to announce this exhibition. A new outdoor Laser and Video installation to pay tribute to the Laser artist Rockne Krebs who was a vital part of the DC arts community from the 60s until his death in 2011. Krebs was also a mentor to me artistically. The piece was commissioned for the Strathmore Mansion in Rockville, MD as a part of their New Technologies in Art exhibition. This is the first time the Strathmore has ever organized an outdoor sculptural installation that engages the building and the grounds with multiple sources of light, video, flags, and fog. It is a unique experience at this beautiful art's center. Please come see the show, and help me to get the word out about this tribute to one of Washington D.C.'s most prolific, pioneering, and community involved artists.
Thank you, George Terry
Closing Reception Sunday, March 2, 2014, 6-8pm.
What's Up: New Technologies in Art curated by Harriet Lesser.
"Object… History... Light… Passage… Fog… Green… Black… Void”
created by George Terry
Archive post: 11/26/2012
Please share your thoughts on the art of Rockne Krebs.
Comments from this initial post on RockneKrebsArt.com
Kyle Krebs 12/2/2012 05:58:21 am - Some people are so "bright" that there whole existence is forced to become driven by the light. Love you Rock. Kyle.
Orrin Harrison 5/2/2013 08:54:52 am - As a collector of Washington art and artists from Sam Gilliam to Lou Stovall, Michael Clark and Bill Dunlap, I have always been intrigued with how artists can see a creation on a blank pad or a sculpture in a rock. Rockne Krebs saw light out of nothing but space. His creations were unique to the art world.
Carol Harrison’s book on Rockne’s art captures that spirit as best as it can be expressed in condensing a photograph from a monumental epic piece.
Just to browse through the pages of this colorful tribute to Rockne’s work brings great enjoyment to any day.
Bill Roseberry 6/25/2013 04:00:38 pm - I first met Rockne after moving to D.C. in the early/mid 80's and hearing so much about him over the years. He and Sam Gilliam had called a general meeting of local artists at his studio on U street to discuss the reasons why the wasn't a greater representation of Washington artists in the museums and local art institutions.
That meeting led to the formation of the Coalition of Washington Artists, 'The Gadfly', which Rockne and Nizette published and even more discussions, panels and meetings with museum and gallery directors and curators to advocate for better representation and benefits for artists and their families; such as Artist Resale Royalties and 'Work For Hire' legislation sponsored by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Throughout this period of around 1985-1990 Rockne worked tirelessly for every artist's benefit, not simply his own.
I have always admired Rockne for both the awesome work he accomplished as then one of only a handful of American artists exploring the realm of the environment as public sculpture - but even more so because he personally demonstrated the highest professional standards of any artist I have ever had the pleasure to know. I will miss him and dedicate my own work to him. I owe him much.
Bill Roseberry
Carol Harrison 5/2/2013 05:13:19 pm -
Thinking back ... it is so incredible how your creation of "The Rockne Krebs' Web Site" and my two books on "Rockne Krebs" have unfolded over the last 18 months.
It is a story in itself.
When I first met your Dad,
wrote about it in the RK 1 book -
that I could -not- believe that I had just played an intensely competitive game of ping pong
with the genius laser sculptor, Rockne Krebs !!!
(in Sam Gilliam's studio).
"Rockne Krebs'" name and work were headlines in The Style section of The Washington Post,
so exciting- creating ART by shooting LASERS ! and on an international scale in the art world.
And now, decades later, you and I are working whole-heartedly together-
it is really quite a history !
I do not know what I believe in Christian doctrine ... but I do hope that your father is following from above the momentum that you are building to remember and to create a scholarly recognition of "Rockne Krebs,"
and his proper 'cutting edge' place in the history of Contemporary American Art and Sculpture.
amazing ... what you have accomplished !
and exactly what needed to be done to keep Rockne Krebs' unique vision alive.
Carol Harrison